City follows paper trail in search of stimulus funds

It’s a very, very big pie – $787 billion in federal funds. How large of a slice can Sonoma realistically expect?
City Manager Linda Kelly hardly has time to answer. For now, the intricacies of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed in to law February 17, are daunting. And with deadlines looming weekly through September, the clock is ticking.
“There’s a built-in sense of urgency to get dollars moving at the local level,” she said. “It’s government moving faster than I’ve ever seen.” How fast? This week she learned that an infrastructure improvement on Fifth Street West has already been approved. Price tag: $436,000.
“The tangible evidence will be public works, road and water projects,” said Kelly. “If the public sees detour flags and orange vests in the roadway, it’s a good thing.”
A great deal of the ARRA funding is earmarked for these kinds of “shovel ready” projects.
For Sonoma that means three major construction jobs – more than $4 million in water-line improvements that had been “on the shelf,” awaiting funding. When the ARRA opportunity came up, with all of 10 days notice, Kelly was ready to make the deadline.
“I wouldn’t want to be a city that didn’t have capital projects ready to roll,” she said. As for the water projects, “we should hear any day.”
If the water projects are approved, the news should come very soon. The ARRA, the goal of which is get money flowing as quickly as possible, generally calls for recipients to spend 50 percent of their funding within 2 years, and to spend all funding within 3 years.
“It’s not automatic,” she said. “For each fund there’s a process, with detailed requirements and full accountability.”
For a city government like Sonoma, most of the ARRA funds are simply not in play – they will be allocated for (and may filter down from) existing federal, state or county agencies. Or, as with mass transit or unemployment, the city budget simply does not carry those line items.
What’s left on the table, nationally at least, is billions. But how to get at them is still a few memos short of certain.
“I get updates daily. It’s a struggle to keep up with what’s happening,” Kelly allows. Even the 58-page overview, an ARRA bible of sorts, prepared by the League of California Cities, is a work in progress. ”I’ve assigned a staff member to really bird dog it.”
Enter Wayne Wirick Jr., development services director and building officer, who will filter through all the information to pinpoint realistic opportunities (“the biggest bang for the buck,” as Kelly put it). Distilling the LCC guide into a matrix draft, he’s already identified 11 “possible/likely” candidates and 28 in the “unlikely/not possible” category.
Kelly sees possibility in funds for the “greening” of city buildings including, and with a major face-lift, the public library. Her office will also pursue funds for renewable energy projects, community and economic development, and community oriented police services.
Whatever happens, it will unfold with unprecedented accountability and transparency, with a dedicated Web site keeping tabs on all fund recipients and projects.
“We’re making progress more quickly than we ever could alone,” Kelly said. “It’s encouraging.”